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Punk said he didn't take a lot of breaks and was at the point that he became excited when during a European tour, his elbow was locked in a 45 degree angle and not able to move it more then a few inches. He said the excitement was getting surgery and time off, but every night WWE's medical staff would have him do all these exercises where he would have to hold a heavy object up and then relax his arm and they they would straighten it and tape it up so he could go. Punk said he got elbow surgery on a Wednesday or Thursday, then had laser surgery on his eyes right after. Then, Vince McMahon called Friday and said that since it was, "Just your elbow that's hurt, I can have you cut promos." So, Punk was back on the road after just five days.
Punk admitted there was pressure from himself to deliver because he wanted to show WWE that no matter what, he was the best and could deliver. He said that the entire time he was back on the road, he was scared he was going to get a blood clot and die from the travel because that's what happened to Chris Candido.
Punk then told a story that about being at "TV" one day, assuming he would just cut a promo when Michael Hayes informed him he was wrestling. Punk said he wasn't because of the surgery on his eyes and Hayes said, "Well, you could have told someone." Punk said that he shouldn't be working anyway because of his elbow and Hayes tells him he's been cleared to return to the ring. Punk said he hadn't even gone to Birmingham, Alabama to see Dr. James Andrews and Hayes told him to go talk to WWE medical doctor Chris Amann. Amann told him he spoke with Andrews via the phone about Punk and Andrews was clearing him. "What sort of witch doctory bullsh** is that?", Punk said, "I'm going to go see Dr. Andrews before I f***ing wrestle. Book that sh**. I'm not going to wrestle tonight."
Punk said that when the Nexus debuted, WWE hid the entire angle from him and Luke Gallows, so he couldn't warn any of them to not go near his eyes. Then, one of them stuck their fingers in his eyes and he started smacking people. He said Gallows asked him what to do and Punk said to start attacking people and when they did, Ryan Reeves (Ryback) started saying, "But we're going over!" Punk said he was very mad about getting a finger in their eye at the time and joked it was karma for a time when he mocked Cabana when Cabana was poked in the eye accidentally by Ricky Reyes.
Punk said he never felt there was a place for him in WWE. Cabana said that Punk can be an a**hole and asked if maybe how he acted backstage is why he had that feeling. Cabana said that he loves Punk, but he can see how people would react to him negatively, based on how Punk can speak to people. Punk said there are 26 writers who have never been in a fight and if they don't like him, they don't want to write him. He said the Straight Edge Society was the best thing ever but they squandered it away and said, "Shouldn't they be trying to make money with everyone, not just one guy?"
They go into Punk being the champion and going into the pressures of the champion and trying to make everyone he worked. He said he would think, "What would Harley Race do?" He said he was an old school guy and would tape things up and just go. Punk said when he was trying to not drop the title to Rock or make it a three-way, Punk's entire way of looking at things was, "What do you have for me next?"
Punk stated that he felt that Vince went into meetings asking what was next for John Cena and that was really all that mattered to him. Punk noted that he didn't want to turn heel at the end of 2012 but was told The Rock's coming back and wanted to work a bad guy and Punk was the champion. Punk was told he could turn heel or drop the belt to Daniel Bryan. Punk said he would rather be a heel, but this meant they were going to cut his checks in half because he was losing his merchandise checks and at this point was the only person who was moving more merchandise then John Cena. Vince told him that if you turn heel, he will own Punk one.
Punk finally said he would turn heel and then asked Vince what the plan for Wrestlemania. When Vince told him it was going to be Cena vs. Rock II. Punk said, "That's awful" and began pitching other ideas. Punk said that if people say he was trying to be a politician, maybe he was, it wasn't that he was just trying to politic himself into the main event saying, "Let me beat everyone." He suggested WWE do a Three-Way for the title, do an elimination, let him get pinned in five minutes and move on to Rock vs. Cena one on one.
Punk said, "Then I would have done the main event of Wrestlemania and it won't be such a hang-up for me anymore. It won't be such a mindf***."
Vince told him that The Undertaker needed someone for Wrestlemania 29 and he felt Punk was the guy. Punk said, "OK but what's after that?" Vince responded, "What do you want to do? I don't know." Punk said when they turned him heel, they decided they wanted to put a heater [someone to be an obstacle babyfaces have to get past to get to him that also helps get a ton of heat for the dominant heel in the act] with him.
WWE suggested Big Show, which Punk shot down and then Daniel Bryan. Punk said no about Bryan, feeling they should be kept apart "like Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart" and that the company could come back to them when they needed a great match.
Punk then said some people are going to think he's full of sh** about this but he doesn't care. He noted for the first time (that I know of) that The Shield was his idea. Eric Pankowski, who was head of creative, wanted to give him two guys who were his lackies. Punk suggested they take three guys and make a stable. He went to Triple H about it and they took it to Vince - Punk suggested Seth Rollins, Kassius Ohno (Chris Hero) and Dean Ambrose. They didn't want Ohno and suggested Roman Reigns. Punk said that was fine because they wanted their guy in the act and then he could learn under Punk.
The original idea was that The Shield would be Punk's group but "things f***ing change" and "they" [WWE creative?] take other people's ideas, then take credit for it. He said it "turned" into Hunter's idea. All the way to their debut on PPV, The Shield had no idea whether they were with Punk or not. Punk's original idea was they were with him until Wrestlemania and The Undertaker match and then that left him with three new guys to work with, because it was all about "what am I doing next?"
He said the way WWE had it go, it left him "dead in the water" after losing to Taker at Mania 29. He said The Shield is doing great and he's thrilled for them but at the time, it pissed him off because he didn't have anyone to work with.
Due to the holiday, I'll have more from the interview - likely on Saturday, but if you want to listen to the entire interview on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast, you can at www.ColtCabana.com or you can go to iTunes.com and subscribe to Cabana's podcast at this link to get the episode.
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